"Normal" for us: We get up, take showers, eat breakfast, then we start schoolwork. Everyone works on independent work in the morning, sometimes working into the afternoon. I'm available for help when needed. We do any read-alouds during or right after lunch (unless not everyone is done with independent work). We also do hands-on activities, nature study, science projects, and other group stuff during the afternoon a couple of times a week.

I have a nice schedule that looks really good on paper, but we don't follow it strictly. I just put it together so I can make sure I'm not overloading our days - and because I'm kind of weird and I love anything to do with schedules and organizing.

Although I did post my menu for Menu Plan Monday last week, I did a horrible job sticking to it! I definitely have to get back on track this week. I've been busy, so I've been doing a lot of menu recycling; I think I'm getting bored. I don't mind having scheduled breakfasts and lunches, but I need to try some new recipes for dinner!

If you want to see other people's menus for this week or post your own, go to orgjunkie.com.

Looking BackShare your personal history…before you were a home educator. What
was life like? Think about things you miss and things you and your family
have gained.

B.H.E. (Before Home Education)

Was there ever a "before" I was a home educator? It almost seems
like I've known nothing else. :-) Looking back, I'm so glad that God didn't
let me have the final say in my decisions!

As a know-it-all teenager and young adult, I was quite sure that I never wanted
to get married or have children. I wanted to be a "career girl" and
that career was going to entail travel, although I had no clue what I wanted
to do. I changed my mind quite often. I would have loved to get paid to be a
full-time student. :-) Well, immediately upon entering college, I met my husband-to-be...
and I knew immediately that he was going to be my husband. He knew it too -
we were engaged several months later at the age of 19 and married at the age
of 21. I still hadn't finished college, having taken time off to work and figure
out what I wanted to do. I went back and forth from work to college until we
had our first son. At that time, I was presented with the opportunity to work
at home as a medical transcriptionist, so I was able to stay home with him.
I still took college classes off and on until I got pregnant with our third
child, when it became too much to handle the children, work and school.

When oldest was four, we sent him to preschool. Rob wanted me to homeschool,
but I didn't think I would be able to teach the children while working, so the
next year we sent him off to an all-day kindergarten at a charter school that
we really liked. I wasn't thrilled about the all-day kindergarten, but we really
liked the school and that was what they offered. That was a pretty difficult
year. It went well until December, but then Nathan really started to get burned
out. It never occurred to me to pull him out halfway through the year. I was
busy at home working two transcription jobs and taking care of a preschooler,
toddler and baby. Hindsight is definitely 20/20, isn't it? I don't know why
I was worried about being able to teach him kindergarten stuff! I guess I wasn't
thinking at all... My poor son came home exhausted and feeling like he was missing
out while everyone else was at home. That year is one of my biggest parenting
regrets.

Towards the end of the next summer, we knew we couldn't put Nathan back in
school. We had been praying about it quite a bit because I was really unsure
about working and teaching. The registration deadline kept getting closer and
closer, and we had no peace about registering him. That was the beginning of
our journey into the world of home education.

What do I miss about that short period that we had a child in school? I can
honestly say that I don't miss anything about it. I felt guilty most of the
year.

I think we are much closer as a family because we homeschool. Things are far
from perfect, and we have a lot of struggles relationally, getting schoolwork
done, and just juggling everything. However, I wouldn't trade it for anything.
We also have the opportunity to be quite involved in our church, and our children
are able to help serve with us. I may not always feel like we are "caught
up" as far as school subjects go, and I am often too hard on my sons, but
I think they are able to learn so many things that I wouldn't have time to teach
them if they were in a public school all day. We have time to read the Word
and pray together, clean together (not their favorite though), cook together,
and serve together.

As I already said, there are a lot of struggles, but that is part of what is
so valuable about home education: struggling together to work out relationships
and work together as a small community. I definitely can't think of anything
I miss from the B.H.E. days.

HomeschoolBlogger Comments
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Mar. 30, 2008 - Untitled Comment

Posted by
Anonymous

It's been neat reading how everyone began their journey into homeschooling. There are many challenges along the way, for sure(!), but the blessings outweigh them :-)

Blessings,
Tammy ~@~

Mar. 30, 2008 - Looking Back

Posted by
Morning Rose

In college, I was also very career-minded and didn't expect to be a stay-at-home mom much less a home educator. We had our older son in a Christian school from pre-school through first grade. It wasn't too bad in pre-school (three mornings a week) or Kindergarten (three full days a week), but we noticed a difference in first grade (five full days a week). He was quite burned out, withdrawn, and bored, and we knew we needed to make a change. I don't miss much about our before-homeschool days either. :)

Mar. 30, 2008 - Untitled Comment

Posted by
Ellen

That's wonderful that your children serve with you at church. One day, I wrote a post about all of the learning experiences my kids were having at church. I was sure surprised to see how much was on my list. The volunteering and service projects are really important ones to me.
http://ellenfunlearning.blogspot.com/

I am sure that God has used that year in kindergarten for good...you've already mentioned some. It motivated you to try something a little scary (homeschooling). I'm sure it helps you to persevere. I wouldn't be surprised if the memories help your oldest to hang on to homeschooling too. You are right about all the opportunities available for homeschooling, like working at church. That is great!
Blessings,
Laurie

Mar. 30, 2008 - Untitled Comment

Posted by
Anonymous

I got my Mrs. degree in college, too. However, I was married at age 19. :) I enjoyed reading your journey.

I never pictured myself as a homeschool mom, either. But now, I can't see myself as anything but!

Mar. 30, 2008 - Untitled Comment

Posted by
Anonymous

I never was carreer minded knowing all along I just wanted to be a SAHM. But I never expected to homeschool. That was an unexpected path. I loved reading your story!

Mrs darling
http://peterpanandfamily.blogspot.com

Mar. 31, 2008 - Untitled Comment

Posted by
Anonymous

You know, I am glad you talked about how even though homeschooling is the way the Lord led your family, you still have troubles. This comes on an especially challenging day, so it was good to hear some hope!

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog!

Karly @ www.indescribablelife.blogspot.com

Mar. 31, 2008 - Untitled Comment

Posted by
Anonymous

Your first few sentences sound so much like me! Travel, career student wannabe, not sure about getting married...

March 29, 2008

Yummy stuff, but it is quite an endeavor to keep up with Amish Friendship Bread!
As my aunt said when I told her I was baking some of this bread a few weeks
ago, "Ah... it's a mixed blessing." I've never been successful at
keeping up with this for long. In fact, it has been years since I have had some
starter. I was wondering if you could freeze the starter or adapt the recipe
at all, so I did a trusty Google search and quickly found some recipes and information,
at allrecipes.com.
Here are the recipes I found:

The editor's note for the starter recipe states that you can freeze the starter
in 1-cup portions. You have to thaw it for at least 3 hours before using it.
The comments for these recipes are very helpful too. I was able to play around
with the recipe that I was given and use up all of the starter. I did make four
new bags of starter that I froze. BTW, my instructions didn't say not to freeze
it! Please, no negative comments on this controversial topic!

Oh I LOVE amish friendship bread. I got my starter when I taught public school. Then my supply just grew and grew. So I took bread and lots of batches to Sunday School class to share. lol I don't have that recipe anymore.
Blessings,
Laurie

March 28, 2008

One way a blogger gets others to come to their blog is to start a weekly or monthly blog post meme (pronounced like theme). The blogger challenges their readers to post on a certain subject on their own blogs and then asks those bloggers to sign up by either leaving a comment or using the Mr. Linky at the bottom of the original post. This way other readers and bloggers can read all the posts that mention the same topic. For instance, Thursday Thirteen, Wordless Wednesday, and Works for me Wednesday. The list could go on and on and on! If you see a meme on a blog you'll know it because it will direct you back to the original post. So start your own meme!

Blog Tip Challenge of the Month

Even if you don't want to start a meme you can certainly take part in them! Remember many of the other participants will be reading your entry. Right here's a great place to start - The HSB Company Porch Homeschool Times. Write a blog post in newspaper fashion about any homeschool event or activity you have taken part in. It can be truth or fiction, the point is to have fun! Tell us how the dog ate your schoolwork or about the field trip to the pizza parlor. Don't forget to write it just like it's an article in a newspaper. Give it a catchy title like 15 Homeschoolers Caught with the Dough at Pizza Ritza!

Once your entry is posted come back to the Porch and sign up with Mr. Linky, that way everyone can read your post and you can read all the other entries!

We just began our third unit of Tapesty
of Grace Year 2, which covers the colonial time period. This has been a
year of change and experimentation for me as far as how I implement Tapestry
of Grace (TOG). I decided to change the way we do mapwork by doing all of the
maps for the unit the week before we begin. I think it will be advantageous
for my children to see "the lay of the land" before encountering it
in their reading, as well as during their reading. I am also hoping that they
will have more time to do projects if we do the maps ahead of time - I am really
bad with hands-on activities for TOG!

We took a week off between units to file and organize everything from unit
2, revamp our schedule, do some decluttering, and prepare all of the maps for
unit 3. I wanted to do all of our timeline work together also, but we didn't
get to that - yet.

I own the MapAids
for Year 2, so I printed out all of the teacher maps and enough student
maps for each child. We did the first one together, but I decided I would let
everyone work on their own maps in any order they chose. I let them cheat and
use the teacher's maps, but they had to include everything on the maps. We use
maps often as a part of our studies. It has been my experience that my children
learn a lot just by handling the maps, which is the reason I allowed them to
use the teacher's maps. I might change my mind next time, so if any of my kids
are reading this, it is subject to change! :-) I will be printing out some blank
maps and doing testing periodically just to make sure everyone knows the most
important information.

When everyone completed their maps, they bound them with the ProClick
binding machine
(hat tip to Angi
at Peakmore Academy and Deborah
at Notebooking Pages), which I absolutely love! The kids are expected
to refer to their maps during their weekly readings and check the geography
assignments for extra labels or suggestions. So far, so good, although this
is only the first week of the unit. The bound books of maps are the beginnings
of their notebooks for the unit. We will be adding notebook pages, writing assignments,
pictures and descriptions of projects, and any other pertinent assignments to
it. I am hoping that we will also put together a fold-out timeline to include
with each of the notebooks.

In case you are interested in trying this and don't have maps available, there
are tons of free maps available online. I have listed some favorite map sites
and resources in my Free
Geography Resources category. TOG also offers links to geography resources
for each year plan (click on the year plan to go directly to the geography links
page): Year
1 (Creation to the Fall of Rome), Year
2 (Fall of Rome to the signing of the American Constitution), Year
3 (World History During the 1800s), and Year
4 (World History During the Twentieth Century and into the Present). These
links would be helpful regardless of which history or geography curriculum you
are using.

As I already said, this is subject to change. I think it might work out well
for us, though. Everyone is already doing projects, and it's only the first
week of the unit. Nathan
has a huge project planned, but I won't unveil it yet. Allyson
already completed what was supposed to be a unit-long project: a card game using
figures and information from the unit. Now she and Kathryn
are working on a medieval card game since I am so bad about getting to projects
and we did very, very little for the middle ages! Jordan
made this Jamestown
replica from Home
School in the Woods. I'll try to post pictures of projects and notebooks
as they are completed.

Hi, I visited your blog to read the Front Porch "assignment." Your blog is beautiful. I am going to read some more about Tapestry of Grace. I am really looking for something different next year for history, and this is one I keep seeing come up. Looks interesting!

March 26, 2008

Did you know that the governors of Nebraska
and Florida
have proclaimed a Home Education Week from March 30 through April 5, 2008? To
celebrate, Dana at
Principled Discovery is hosting Home
Education Week, complete with writing prompts and a graphic, and everyone
is invited to participate! Click on the image above for more information.

HomeschoolBlogger Comments
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Mar. 27, 2008 - Untitled Comment

Posted by
Anonymous

Thanks so much for helping with this! And I'm looking forward to what you have to share! :)

March 25, 2008

Since
I had so many books that I didn't finish on my Winter
Reading Challenge Wrap-up post, I'm really excited that Katrina
at Callapiddler Days is hosting the Spring
Reading Thing 2008! The challenge goes from March 20th, through June 19th.
One random participant will win a $10 gift certificate from Amazon.com, but
you have to post your initial reading list by midnight (EST) tonight and post
a recap by midnight on June 24th. You can join the reading fun anytime though
- the deadline is only to be eligible for the prize!

Here's my list (leftover from my Winter
Reading Challenge list. I noticed that a lot of people added their Bible
reading goals to the Winter Reading Challenge. I thought that was a
great idea, so I added my Bible reading goals to this list. I'll hopefully add
some more books, but I would like to get most of these finished up first. Books
I'm currently reading are in red; books I have
completed will be crossed off.

I tend to read several books at a time, so I knew my list was probably a little
ambitious to actually finish. I never started What
is Form Criticism?, by Edgar V. McKnight. Otherwise, I did okay, considering
the length and content of some of my book choices. My original post is here.

Completed Books:

Little
Dorrit, by Charles Dickens (free
online): I really enjoyed this one, although I have only come across
one Dickens book that I haven't liked (and I didn't finish it, so it really
doesn't count). :-)

Cranford,
by Elizabeth Gaskell (free
online): As soon as I started this I realized that I had already read
it! I read it again anyway. It is quite different from other Gaskell novels
that I have read, but the characters grow on you, especially Miss Matty.

The
Practice of the Presence of God, by brother Lawrence (free
online): I highly recommend this one. Brother Lawrence almost seems
too good to be true, but his insights on focusing on God (really "praying
without ceasing) are invaluable. His humility really captured me.

Families
at the Crossroads, by Rodney Clapp: This is another one I highly
recommend, although many American Christians will be offended by some of what
Clapp has to say. This book caused me to take a good look at how much American
culture has impacted my thinking (and I thought I already had a pretty good
grip on that). If you decide to read it, make sure you read the whole book
to get the big picture.

Life
Skills for Kids, by Christine M. Field: This is a great book
to help you plan teaching some of the skills your children will need. Some
of the author's ideas about preparation for adulthood seem a little bit over-planned
for me, but that is a very natural reaction from the way she was raised. I
found the book to be very helpful. It would be a great reference to keep on
hand.

Currently Reading:

Martin
Chuzzlewit, by Charles Dickens (free
online): This one hasn't been a favorite for me, although the satire
is brilliant (of course). I'm plugging away at it though. I'm almost halfway
through it.

Awakening
Youth Discipleship, by Brian J. Mahan, Michael Warren, and David
F. White: This short book is pretty scholarly, so I have to read it when
I can really focus on it - not too often around here! I'm only about a quarter
of the way through this book, which I had hoped to finish.

Deep
Justice in a Broken World, by Chap Clark & Kara E. Powell: I
skimmed through "Deep Justice," as we will be using it for a youth/family
book study. I still have to go through the book and do a thorough reading.
This book is addressed to youth leaders, but it is very practical for anyone
with children. It's another book that is probably controversial among American
Christians, but, in my opinion, the book is an excellent tool for
youth leaders and/or parents who would like to introduce their children/students
to some of the wrongs in our culture and do something about them. It's all
about serving the hurting.

Soul
Searching, by Christian Smith with Melinda Lundquist Denton: This
book has been on my shelf for quite a while, and I still haven't made much
of a dent in it. I added it to my book list, but it is one that I will keep
plugging away at in between other books. The subtitle is "The Religious
and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers." As you can see from that,
it is mostly statistics and commentary on those statistics. I'll be finishing
it, but it probably won't be for a while.

HomeschoolBlogger Comments
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Mar. 26, 2008 - Untitled Comment

Posted by
Anonymous

You had a great book list and even getting half way through is an accomplishment! Thanks for stopping by my blog. Are you doing the Spring challenge?

Although it's Tuesday, I thought I'd better post my menu for Menu Plan Monday anyway. I think I'm addicted to the accountability! :-) I might end up making some lentil soup this week in case I don't have enough leftovers for this menu - we'll see. I also need to get in the habit of making extras and freezing since our busiest time of the year is fast approaching.

If you want to see other people's menus for this week or post your own, go to orgjunkie.com.

March 24, 2008

Well,
I'm a bit late on my Green Hour Challenge post, but better late than never,
right? The fourth
Green Hour Challenge assignment was to choose a focus for the next six to
eight weeks, of course staying flexible if our children find something else
of interest. The kids were on vacation with my mom for a few days last week,
so I wasn't even sure if we would get to our nature study at all. They were
in northern Michigan, so they got to spend a lot of time outdoors. We did end
up going out as a family on Saturday to the same park we went to for our last
assignment. It was late on Saturday when we went for our walk, so we didn't
get to the nature journals yet. We watched the ducks for a while again. They
were pretty active, so it was a really fun time. It was nice to have Rob there
too - he took TONS of pics!

Our focus for the next few weeks is going to be invertebrates since we have
some worms to dissect that I haven't gotten to yet. We didn't see any worms
or snails, but the Canadian Geese were eating something in
some mud.... .

Here's another squirrel:

Some pods that lasted through winter:

This was pretty funny! The ducks were flying into the water
and sliding on the water. Here are a couple of pics, although it was much more
fun to watch!

One of the interesting things we noticed was that the roots
of many of the trees were much more prominent on the river side of the trees.
Not all of the trees were like that, but there were enough to draw our attention
to it. Here is an example:

I was immediately reminded of Jeremiah 17:7-8

"But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
whose confidence is in him.

He will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit."

March 16, 2008

Here's my menu for the week. It isn't as detailed because I haven't had much time for planning. I did want to at least plan the dinners for the week though. They are pretty simple and quick, as it looks like it will be another busy week.

There is a good article at Menus4Moms this week called Work Week Menus - How to Make it Easier! Don't be fooled by the title; it will be helpful whether or not you work outside the home. The article outlines some simple cooking ideas that most of us are probably already aware of, but reminders are always helpful (at least they are for me).

If you want to see other people's menus for this week or post your own, go to orgjunkie.com.

March 14, 2008

The
third
Green Hour Challenge assignment was to take another 10- to 15-minute nature
walk. We were to focus on being quiet again and try to do a nature journal entry.
The weather was perfect for being outside yesterday! We went to a park with
a nature trail and spent about an hour outside. We didn't get to the nature
journal entries, although we talked about them and are planning to begin them.
We had a wonderful time, though. It was definitely a success! Since we didn't
work on nature journals, I'll share our finds in pictures here.

The first thing we saw was this squirrel:

Next we came upon some ducks!

Hanging around with the ducks were some Canadian Geese.

Look at these beauties!

As if that wasn't enough, we came upon a tree that a beaver
had worked on!

Although we didn't get to the journal entries, we had quite a fun outdoor adventure
this week! Thanks again for hosting this, Barb!.

March 12, 2008

The boys have been begging me for the book "Backyard Ballistics"
almost since we began homeschooling. Well, I finally ordered it (after getting
Rob's approval, of course) and the book arrived yesterday. Now I know why I
hesitated....

The boys decided to build a paper match rocket today, which is a pretty harmless-looking
project - at least it looks pretty harmless in the book. Of course, instead
of making one paper match rocket on a small board, they decided to rig up 3
sets of 5 on a large, duct tape-covered board, complete with numerical labels
for the rockets. What is it with boys and duct tape anyway?

Apparently, the launching didn't go very well. It was quite cold and the ammo
wouldn't stay lit.

How's that for anticlimactic? The boys don't seem to be deterred, though.

So, you've now seen episode one from Backyard Ballistics at the Elliotts. I
hope this doesn't turn into another chicken
mummy saga!

I hope to get lots of pictures and be able to blog about our ballistics experiments next year! LOL Fortunately we live in the country, so as long as my boys don't aim their potato launchers directly at the neighbor's sheep, we should be okay. LOL

March 10, 2008

So far, so good with Menu Plan Monday. I don't always stick strictly to the menus, but this is really helping me keep up with grocery shopping and cooking regularly. This week I'm trying to use items I already have at home since I have to replenish some pantry items and I'm trying to keep the food budget down.

If you want to see other people's menus for this week or post your own, go to orgjunkie.com.

March 8, 2008

The
second Outdoor
Hour Challenge assignment was to spend another 10-15 minutes outside focusing
on being quiet and watching, listening and feeling. After going back inside,
we were to find words to describe what we heard, saw and felt. It was cold out
again, but we did go out for a bit yesterday. I drove by a park to see if it
was open, but it wasn't. This would have been fun to do in a setting with more
trees. Here are some of the kids' descriptions and pictures from our time outside
this week:

Hey, I'll have to check this out. Spring is here in our area; actually, we'll have a week or two of this and it will be summer! Since our kids are the expensive nature enthusiasts (they don't like to be outside, but love traveling to national parks, skiing and the like), this is a wonderful opportunity to involve them in some outdoor nature studies. Thanks for sharing, and I hope all is well.

Mar. 9, 2008 - Untitled Comment

Posted by
Anonymous

love your blog fellow SE MI gal! A hodgepodge of various 'stuffs' going on...that's what we do Spring will be here soon.

March 4, 2008

1. Write your own six word memoir
2. Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you’d like
3. Link to the person that tagged you in your post and to this original
post if possible so we can track it as it travels across the blogosphere
4 .Tag five more blogs with links
5. And don’t forget to leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation
to play!

This was difficult for me, but I finally came up with something perfect:

I'm not sure which makes me more jealous: the fact that you get to have Timmy's with my Kristina or that she gets to have Timmy's with you! Wish I could be a fly on the wall,....actually I'd rather be a friend in a chair at the same table, but that's for another time perhaps.

March 3, 2008

Menu Plan Monday is really helping me stay on track with meals and especially with keeping up with grocery shopping (my least favorite thing to do). I've been planning menus and making my shopping list on the weekend. I don't shop at the beginning of the week, so I plan the first part of the week using ingredients that I already have. Actually, this week my menu is mostly from ingredients that I already have on hand. If you want to see other people's menus for this week or post your own, go to orgjunkie.com.